Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies with Espresso Salt

This post is brought to you by SaltWorks®. Read on for a chance to win a set of gourmet salts, perfect for your holiday cooking!

The holidays are steeped in tradition, from whether we put tiny villages on our fireplace mantles to the recipes we serve at family gatherings. I always look forward to the buckeye candies my friend makes, and my family has taken to driving around to look at the city holiday lights just like I did growing up.

Because we live so far away from the rest of our family, I keep an eye open for new traditions we can incorporate into our holiday. For me, that includes baking a new cookie each year.

While I love the standard spritz cookies and cheerful gingerbread men, I’m always looking out for something that will make a cookie “my” cookie, the cookie that will stay with me for the rest of my baking days.

I might have found it with this year’s cookie, y’all.

If you’re a Nutella fan these cookies might seem like a no-brainer to you. Hazelnuts? Check. Chocolate? Check. But is that enough to elevate a cookie and make it a mainstay of the season?

Enter the salt.

Not just any salt – these cookies are sprinkled with Fusion® Espresso Brava Sea Salt, giving you just the tiniest hit of coffee flavor that rounds out these cookies in a way you didn’t know was needed.

I have to admit, I didn’t know much about all the different varieties of salt. Sure, I’ve used Himalayan pink salt, chunky salt harvested from Galveston Bay, and the mainstay kosher salt. But I didn’t really realize how much of a difference salts can make, especially flavored ones.

SaltWorks sent me a box of their high-quality salts to try, and I couldn’t believe how just a small amount of the salt made every recipe I tried it in better. I’m hooked on their salts now, and I keep trying to plan my meals with the flavors in mind.

Because the products from SaltWorks are unprocessed and all-natural, you only need a little bit to make a big difference in your recipes. I love that the flavored salts are naturally infused, making for a pure product that is full of flavor, not additives.

The Espresso Brava salt on top of these cookies gives a salty-sweet hit of satisfaction. If you’re powering through the holidays like I am, you’ll need something special to get you through each day. Why not have it be these cookies?

Do you want to add a unique flavor boost to your holiday recipes? Saltworks is giving away 3 of their Limited Edition Fusion® Salt Samplers!

Each set includes 3 bowls, 3 spoons, and 5 of their Fusion® salts: Wild Porcini, Black Truffle, Spanish Rosemary, Vintage Merlot, and of course the Espresso Brava salt I used in my cookies.

To enter, follow the instructions on the entry form below. Sorry international friends, this giveaway is for US residents only.

Now that you’ve entered, why not make some cookies? Reminiscent of pecan sandies, these hazelnut-studded cookies are topped with chocolate ganache before being finished with espresso salt. If you can’t get your hands on espresso salt, try it with large-flake sea salt.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies with Espresso Salt

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 24

Ingredients

1 cup whole hazelnuts

½ cup salted butter, softened

½ cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg

4 ounces chopped chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

Espresso Brava Sea Salt

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

If your hazelnuts have skins, toast them in a skillet over medium heat, shaking gently. The skins will slip off. Let cool before processing.

Pulse nuts in a food processor until nuts are about pea-sized.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then mix in vanilla and egg. Stir in flour and hazelnuts.

Scoop dough out by the tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Gently press down slightly on each cookie. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan or in a microwave, whisking to thoroughly combine.

Top each cookie with a spoonful of chocolate. Sprinkle with a pinch of Espresso Brava Sea Salt.

Let cookies cool, and if desired, put in the refrigerator to firm up chocolate. Store in a covered container.

3.2.1275

Disclaimer: I received a sample of products from SaltWorks for the purpose of review, and was compensated for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

My favorite salt is the pink hawaiian ash or truffle salt hmmm it’s a toss up. I have never heard of those salts and I bet they would be super fun to work with. (Love the recipe you made) I will share this.

What type of chocolate do you use? I know a rich, dark chocolate would be awesome with these cookies, but my kiddo favors milk chocolate. Or maybe I just use what I want, and if he converts to being a dark chocolate lover, all the better!

Hi, I'm Megan. Stetted is a celebration of fresh, wholesome meals for the entire family. Cooking good food that is healthy, unprocessed, and delicious shouldn’t take a lot of time. I’m out to prove that anyone can enjoy the ingredients bursting from our produce stands and markets, if we just get into the kitchen.

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